Transformers: The Great War - Season 1
by BNSF1995
Summary: Extreme AU Fall of Cybertron with Japanese G1 influences. They say war never changes. They've never met the Cybertronian race, or "Transformers", as the government refers to them as. These aren't the robots in disguise you remember, and it isn't Transformers: Prime. No limits. No censorship. No Miko. Just total war. This is the greatest war the galaxy has ever seen.
1. Prologue

**A/N: This is a brand-new story set in my own headcanon Transformers universe. It starts just after the ending of Fall of Cybertron. Don't worry, Diary of a Wargamer will still go on, and I'll get around to Theodore Tugboat: The Real Stories and the Monster World reboot eventually, but for right now, enjoy my newest project.**

 **Note that a bit of information in this prologue was taken verbatim from (a site I highly recommend you visit for its vast information and sense of humor). Also note that I'm a huge Starscream fan, so that's why he gets a lot of focus in this prologue (never mind he'll have a lot of focus).**

* * *

 **Transformers: The Great War**

 **Prologue**

Many millions of years ago on the planet Cybertron, life existed. But not life as we know it today. Intelligent robots that could think and feel inhabited the planet's cities.

But not anymore. Millions of years of civil war had ravaged the planet much worse than during the war against the Quintessons. It all started when the Golden Age of Cybertron came to a sudden end with the collapse of the Space Bridge network, beginning the Age of Rust. The bloated bureaucracy left behind by Quintesson rule had left Cybertronian society stagnant, free choice stifled by a rigid caste system. In the gladiator pits of Kaon, one fighter named D16, who had renamed himself Megatron after one of the Thirteen, Megatronus, had started a movement to spur change in Cybertronian society, and his friend Orion Pax did the same. The problem was, though, that they had different ways of going about it. Megatron's movement, the Decepticons, favored a violent forceful revolution, while Orion's movement, the Autobots, wanted peaceful social change. The last straw for Megatron was when Alpha Trion sent Optimus Prime on a quest to find the Matrix of Leadership and name him the new Prime, which Megatron saw as the greatest affront and betrayal by his "brother", severing all ties with him. Orion, meanwhile, eventually found the Matrix, and reawakened the Prime had had been in a past life: Optimus Prime. But the break with Megatron was irreparable and the violent Decepticon revolt surged into motion.

The Great War had begun.

* * *

Over several million years, the war raged, a violent and bloody affair. Autobots and Decepticons were killed by the thousands in each battle, and the population began to dwindle as no new Cybertronians were emerging from the Well of Allsparks, as if an act of defiance against war.

But the war came to a head when Megatron found out about Dark Energon. Seeking to use it to impose his will on Cybertron, he and a group of Decepticons boarded an orbital Energon Depot, intending to take it by force. The station's commander, former Air Commander Starscream, attempted to ward them off, but all failed, and took Megatron's offer to be restored to his former position.

One of the largest battles of the war was the Battle of Iacon, the Autobot capitol. While Starscream led an assault on the city, Megatron led a strike force into the Stellar Galleries to find the Omega Key, with which he could gain access to the Core of Cybertron itself and corrupt it with Dark Energon. Megatron succeeded in defeating the Autobot leader Sentinel Zeta Prime, but to his regret, found that the key wasn't a physical key, but a large Cybertronian named Omega Supreme. Megatron found the mighty warrior hard to defeat, but thanks to Starscream and his Seekers, Omega was brought down, and forced to open the way to the core, which Megatron proceeded to corrupt with Dark Energon, believing it would bend the planet to his will.

Meanwhile, the battle raged in Iacon. Optimus Prime led the counterattack and reactivated the planetary guns, then aided his old friend Ironhide (who had once been a dock worker named Dion) in retaking the Decagon, in which Optimus faced off with Starscream and won, though Starscream managed to wade his way through a sea of Autobot soldiers and escape unscathed.

A few days later, Optimus Prime, along with his most trusted lieuitenants Jazz and Prowl, stormed the Kaon prison complex to find and rescue Zeta Prime after a message was broadcast to the Decagon, only to find it was a trap set by Megatron, a trap they still managed to fight out of. The thousands of Autobots imprisoned in the complex were also released, among them some of the foremost female Autobots, including Arcee, widely-renowned for having the most Decepticon kills under her belt of any femme, and Hornet, twin sister of the Autobot scout Bumblebee. Sadly, the Autobots were too late to save Zeta's life, and Optimus Prime took the mantle of Autobot leader.

Fighting their way to the Core, Primus informed Optimus that he had to shut down for millions of years to cleanse himself of the Dark Energon infestation, during which time Cybertron would only be able to support a skeleton population. Thus began the Great Exodus.

* * *

The initial Galactic Transports launching from Cybertron were met by a heavy Decepticon blockade. Previously, Megatron had given Optimus an ultimatum to leave Cybertron or die, but now, he was shooting down transports using an orbital gun, accusing the Autobots of "defying him".

It should be noted that by this point in the conflict, Megatron's logic circuits had gone haywire after taking several unusually hard blows to the head, and he seemingly became incapable of rational thought. The same could be said of Starscream, who had been promoted to second-in-command for his actions in Iacon. Starscream's own logic circuits had become uncalibrated from his thousand-year exile on the Energon Station, with stir-craziness definitely playing a major role. As a result, Starscream had become a backstabbing narcissist who constantly plotted to overthrow Megatron, though all the same, Starscream had a valid vision for Cybertron: a democratic system of government made by the people, for the people. Surprisngly, Megatron welcomed these attempts, as they kept him sharp and reminded him that any Decepticon would gun for his position, the main difference being Starscream was the most proactive and unpredictable. All the same, though, Megatron wouldn't think of killing Starscream due to the fact he was one of the best fighters he had, no one else was qualified for the position of Air Commander, and he had a sense of cunning that intrigued him.

A group of Aerialbots led by Silverbolt fought through Seeker squadrons and boarded the gun, known as Trypticon Station. Managing to shut off the power core, they soon discovered that the station was in fact a Cybertronian, and forced Trypticon to transform into his robot form: that of a giant reptile. Planet-side, Optimus Prime, Ironhide, and Bumblebee fought the mighty beast, and defeated him. By this point, the blockade had been broken, and almost all Galactic Transports had been launched. For the Autobot command staff, Optimus had commissioned renowned engineer Huffer to construct a large ship named the Ark.

Construction on the ship progressed swimmingly, and the now Decepticon-free Iacon was a hub of activity. Six days prior to launch, though, Megatron dispatched Starscream and Soundwave to lead an assault on the Ark in a bid to destroy it and prevent the Autobots from leaving, since Megatron's haywire logic circuits deemed that the Autobots were to be conquered and enslaved, not allowed to escape and spread their decrepit system of government to other worlds. To that end, he dispatched three Warp Cannons to destroy it. Optimus Prime fought his way to the artillery controls, only to find that the city was a massive Cybertronian named Metroplex. Together, Optimus and the Titan destroyed the Warp Cannons, before Optimus was captured by Starscream and brought before the increasingly-insane Megatron. Just as all hope seemed lost, though, Metroplex crashed the party and smashed Megatron to death.

His leader dead, Starscream was left with a choice, one he knew he'd hate himself for. He declared Megatron dead, himself leader of the Decepticons, and ordered a full retreat back to Kaon, leaving Megatron's body.

* * *

Tensions in the Decepticon ranks rose from there. Starscream and the scientist Shockwave were constantly bickering, with Starscream admonishing Shockwave for experimenting with a Space Bridge in the Sea of Rust when there was a large Energon reservoir right in front of him. He also had a pencheant for self-worship, having large statues of himself erected and imprisoning anyone who criticized or insulted him.

All the same, though, he was sinking deeper into self-loathing. With each statue erected, each lie he told, each naysayer he locked up, he just wanted to walk away from it all. But he couldn't. He had dug himself into this hole, and he just kept digging himself deeper. Truth be told, it was his faulty logic circuits. He knew what was right, but said circuits constantly overrode his decision-making process and drove him to act like a narcissistic, self-absorbed gloryhound. If that wasn't enough, the circuits even forced him to put a lot of emphasis on any first-person nouns he used (ie words like "I", "my", "me"), much to his consternation. Some nights, he even laid down in his quarters and silently cried himself to sleep.

He had hoped to overcome his circuits, but he just couldn't. This came back to bite him when he heard about a transport loaded with Energon. Jazz and Cliffjumper had been sent to the Sea of Rust to find Grimlock and the Lightning Strike Coalition, who had abandoned their post and allowed the Decepticons to launch the attack on the Ark. Onslaught and his Combaticons drew up a plan to take the Energon for Decepticon purposes, but it fell apart when Starscream attacked from the air, ignoring Onslaught's warnings about the anti-aircraft guns (again, his faulty logic circuits at play). Starscream, in a moment of clarity, attempted to call a retreat before his logic circuits got him to make any more bad decisions, but the Combaticons ignored this, and boarded the transport, going as far as to combine to form Bruticus. The transport, which had transformed into a large aircraft, was brought down, with the loss of half the Energon onboard.

* * *

In his workshop in Kaon, Soundwave worked feverishly to rebuild Megatron before Starscream did any more harm. He succeeded in resurrecting his leader, and Megatron, furious with Starscream but unwilling to kill him, stormed the gladiator arena just as Starscream was holding a coronation. Starscream hid behind a shield while he sent Decepticons to their deaths, before Megatron told Starscream his "mockery of a reign was at an end", and blasted him. Starscream, who was upset that the blast hadn't killed him, fled the scene, and Megatron chose not to pursue, reasoning that he wasn't a threat, but deep down, because he knew Starscream would come back begging to return, and that the Decepticons' air forces would be uncoordinated without him. In the meantime, though, Megatron stormed Trypticon's crash site, where he learned the Autobots had sectioned off Trypticon to siphon Energon from him.

Confronting Optimus Prime via hologram, Megatron blamed Optimus for the planet's death...even though it was he himself who was to blame, having corrupted the core with Dark Energon, but Megatron's new logic circuits had yet to come online, making him completely unreasonable.

Finding Trypticon, Megatron initiated the Nemesis Protocol due to Trypticon's failure to destroy Iacon, rebuilding Trypticon's chassis into an imposing starship called the Nemesis.

Starscream, meanwhile, began hacking Shockwave's data logs and managed to infiltrate his lab undetected using a cloaking device he salvaged from an Autobot. His logic circuits had directed him to make a new plan: build his own army rather than try to control the Decepticons, and become a third faction in the war. His first recruitment attempt failed due to the recruitee, Grimlock, having severe anger issues. After breaking free and smashing Starscream into a control panel, Grimlock freed his fellow Lightning Strike Coalition members Swoop, Slug, and Snarl, confronting the Insecticons Hardshell, Kickback, and Sharpshot, before confronting Shockwave and biting off his arm, and also destroying the replica Space Bridge Shockwave had built.

The explosion made the Space Bridge portal unstable, and the Ark didn't have enough Energon to even break Cybertron's gravity. But Metroplex made the ultimate sacrifice and fueled the ship with his own Energon, before falling into stasis lock as the Ark lifted off.

Meanwhile, the Nemesis was primed for launch. Shockwave, who was entrusted with watching over Cybertron and protecting Decepticon territory from any Autobots who remained, discovered the unconscious Starscream in his lab, and brought him before Megatron. Shockwave asked permission to make Starscream his latest test subject, but Megatron, impressed with Starscream's ability to enter Shockwave's lab undetected (a feat even he himself couldn't pull off), Megatron spared him, and even restored him to his old post, in a moment of lucidity. Starscream said nothing but a quiet "thank you", as his logic circuits had been recalibrated by the impact against the panel. Even Megatron was surprised by this humble response.

The Autobots were nearly home-free, when the Decepticons intercepted the Ark and launched an attack. During the course of the fighting, Soundwave rode aboard a tow cable and disabled the ship's cannons, after which the rest of the cables were launched, only for Jetfire to destroy them. Aboard the Ark, Bruticus carved a path of destruction en route to the main Energon tank, which he destroyed before facing off with Jazz. He and Jetfire, using EMP mines, launched Bruticus off the ship and back towards Cybertron. Bumblebee, meanwhile, made his way across the ship to assist in defense, before jumping right in front of a blast from a huge cannon fired by Megatron, before he and Optimus Prime continue their battle, a battle that is interrupted by the unstable space bridge portal sucking both ships in before closing.

This is where our story begins in earnest...

Aboard both the Ark and the Nemesis, there was a flurry of activity. The Autobots and Decepticons had forgotten about the battle and retreated aboard their respective ships, but several Decepticons remained on the Ark. The ships were now out of control, and one Autobot was desperately racing back to the bridge, Megatron hot on his tail.

"Optimus!" shouted Megatron, "I'm not done with you yet!"

"There are more pressing matters, Megatron!" replied Prime, a bit irritated with Megatron's skewed priorities.

"The only pressing matter is your destruction!"

"Our ships are out of control! How can you think of battle in this situation?"

"Because I can!" Megatron's logic circuits still hadn't come online yet, and he advanced singlemindedly towards his enemy.

Prime was finding it hard to run while also carrying Bumblebee, critically wounded by the Nucleon Shock Cannon that Megatron tried to destroy him with. Finally getting back inside, Optimus quickly shut the door just before Megatron could get inside.

"Optimus!" cried Megatron, "OPTIMUS!"

Ignoring the mad cries of the Decepticon leader, Optimus located some soldiers who were retreating to the infirmary.

The three soldiers didn't look like the common Autobot soldier. One of them was yellow, and looked a good deal like Sideswipe. Another was blue and white, and looked like he transformed into something fast. The third was black with red and yellow trim, and seemed boxy, like he transformed into something less fuel-efficient than most Autobots.

"Are you headed for the infirmary, too?" asked Optimus.

"Yes, sir", answered the yellow Autobot, who's name was Sunstreaker.

"Ratchet told us to head up there and assist him" added the blue and white Autobot, who was named Mirage.

"Even though none of us have any medical training of any sort" put in the black Autobot, who went by the name Trailbreaker, "Sound logic."

"Ratchet simply needs you to assist in grunt work. Leave the medical work to him and Hoist."

Just then, the Ark was rocked by multiple small explosions. Sunstreaker looked out the window.

"Escape pods", he said, "They're coming from the Decepticon ship, as well."

"I'd better hurry to the infirmary, then" said Optimus.

* * *

Running as fast as he could, Optimus wished he could transform and still carry Bumblebee, but alas, he lacked any sort of trailer. The hallways of the ship were in chaos. Dead Autobots and Decepticons were strewn everywhere, most of them in pieces. Those who were still alive were leaking Energon and would soon die, as medical aid couldn't be spared for them.

Rounding a corner, Optimus found that the entire hallway was gone. No doubt, this was Bruticus' handiwork. Looking around, he could find no other way across. Both sides of the ship had been cut off. Left with no other choice, Prime decided to make a leap of faith.

Landing on the exterior, he broke into a sprint. Seeing a way inside, Optimus thought he was homefree, until...

"OPTIMUS!"

It had to be Megatron. It just had to be Megatron. Optimus was already pushing his legs faster and faster, and now, he was running faster than ever before.

"FACE OBLIVION, OPTIMUS!"

"Go away, Megatron! I have a casualty here who requires medical assistance!"

"Pathetic! You Autobots tend to your wounded! Your scout has failed! He deserves to die!"

And Megatron took a shot at Optimus with his Riot Cannon. It was no good, though, as Optimus easily dodged the shot. Reaching the door, Optimus gingerly set Bumblebee down inside, while taking a few shots with his Path Blaster. One shot winged Megatron in the shoulder, giving Optimus enough time to get inside and shut the door. Would this madness ever end?

"THIS ISN'T OVER, PRIME!"

Now able to rest a bit easy, Optimus saw a sign pointing to the infirmary. He was nearly there when a red shape rounded the corner behind him.

"Oh, no! Bee!"

It was Hornet, Bumblebee's identical twin sister. She had been working below decks in the engine room, but when the fighting started, she had been handed a Subsonic Repeater and sent off to fight. Now, of course, Hornet is a pretty good shot, and ranks up there with Arcee and Elita One as one of the greatest female Autobot warriors, but she had no time to prepare, no time to get to cover, and no training with a Subsonic Repeater (she was used to using a Neutron Assault Rifle). She still managed to defend the engine room from a Decepticon force led by the Triple Changer Astrotrain, who managed to escape. With the engines secured, Hornet went to the upper decks in search of Bumblebee, and was now faced with an image she had hoped not to see. That of Bumblebee critically injured.

"Bee? A-are you alright?"

"He saved me, Hornet" said Optimus, "He blocked a shot from Megatron that would certainly have ended me. He's a hero as far as I'm concerned."

Hornet grasped Bumblebee's hand, and allowed a few oily tears to fall. She would have preferred to be with Bumblebee on the bridge, but her superior, a sexist sergeant named Hardshot, had ordered her to work in the engine room. She was only able to leave the room because Hardshot was cocky, and thought he could face Astrotrain one-on-one. This line of thinking cost him his life when Astrotrain threw him into one of the reactors, destroying both him and it. After the attack on the engine room subsided, Hornet left to find Bumblebee, seconds before 'bee himself would arrive in the engine room.

"Come," said Optimus, "I'm taking him to the infirmary. Ratchet and Hoist will fix him up good."

"I hope so..." said Hornet, now sounding rather resigned.

* * *

The infirmary was full of Autobots who had been injured. Ratchet and famed surgeon Hoist had set up a triage for injured soldiers. Those with minor damage were walking wounded. All they needed was an Energon cube, which were in good supply on the ship. Those with serious injuries that weren't life-threatening were rendered immediate medical aid. And finally, those with severe damage weren't bothered with, even to spare their feelings. As a result, several Autobots were now shooting themselves to put themselves out of their misery. A horrifying sight, Optimus thought.

"Ah, Optimus, you're here." said Ratchet, "We heard about Bumblebee's injuries from a crewmember in the engine room."

"He came to the engine room?" asked Hornet incredulously, "I went searching for nothing?"

"That's in the past, Hornet," soothed Optimus, "For now, we need to focus on stabilizing him."

"Yes...yes, of course. He's not too badly damaged, is he?"

Ratchet and Hoist looked over him carefully.

"He's been badly hit," said Hoist, and Hornet herself for the bad news, "but it's easily repaired."

Sighing in relief, Hornet stepped closer to the operating table. "How can I help?"

"You can help stabilize him by bringing down that cable", replied Ratchet, pointing to the cable that was arcing with electricity.

Hornet had seen Ratchet operate like this before. When her and Bumblebee's cousin Volks was badly injured during the Third Battle of Harmonex, Ratchet had stabilized him using this same cable. They hadn't seen Volks since then, though, and wondered what became of him.

Optimus watched as the operation got underway, the Ark being rocked by several more small explosions as more escape pods were jettisoned. Now that he knew Bumblebee was in good hands, he departed for the bridge.

* * *

Dashing through the halls, Optimus hoped he could make it there before Megatron inevitably got access to the interior. Quite a Decepticon soldiers were still on the ship, and were holding down the corridor to the bridge. This was not a good sign.

"It's Optimus Prime!" shouted a Decepticon, "Tear him to scrap!"

Decepticon soldiers were never the brightest, but they thought they could gain favor with Megatron by killing Optimus Prime. Optimus, though, easily dispatched them with his Path Blaster. More Decepticon soldiers entered, also being gunned down with ease.

Coming up to the bridge, Optimus located an ammo clip and reloaded his gun for the inevitable fight. When he opened it, though, he got more than he bargained for.

"Ah, so you've finally arrived."

"Megatron?! But...how? I locked you out!"

"That's one of my clones, Megaplex. Does a pretty good impression of me, doesn't he?"

"I thought he was a bit...off."

"Yes, I admit, the Megaplex clones could use some work. But that's not the point! The point is that you left Cybertron without MY permission! You and your Autobots were meant to stay and be our slaves, not infect other planets with your bloated bureaucracy! I am the savior of Cybertron!"

"YOU destroyed Cybertron by corrupting its core with Dark Energon!"

"YOU corrupted the core! I did nothing wrong!"

"I was in Iacon fighting your invasion when you infected the core!"

"Liar! I was leading my men in Iacon while you infected the core to subjugate the citizens of Cybertron under your banner! You are the true villain here, not me!"

"If I'm the villain, then why do you kill unarmed medics? Why do you constantly abuse your men? Why are you pursuing us when you told us to leave Cybertron?"

"That ultimatum was a lie! I was testing your resolve!"

"My resolve has never been stronger, Megatron."

"Enough talk! Now I shall slag you!"

Megatron raised his arm to fire his Riot Cannon...only to realize that in the rush to board the ship, he left it on the Nemesis.

"Oh, slag," he said, rather quietly. This wasn't how he had planned it.

"Oh, slag is right!" replied Optimus, "Time to end your tyranny!"

Optimus raised his Path Blaster once more, and fired. It was aimed square at Megatron's head, and would kill him.

Well, it would have, if Optimus wasn't tackled at the last second.

Megatron watched in disbelief as Starscream flew in and decked Optimus Prime, disrupting his shot. He then put Prime into an arm-lock, and even tore Prime's gun off and threw it to Megatron.

"Take the gun, Lord Megatron!" cried Starscream, "I've got him wide open!"

Megatron blinked.

"He's all yours! The glory is yours, Megatron! I won't take it for myself! Not now, not ever again!"

Megatron blinked again. He was confused. Then something clicked.

His new logic circuits were finally online. And unlike those in his old body, they were fully-functional.

Thoughts raced through his processor, and he began to notice things. His immediate attention was direct to the fact Starscream was putting emphasis on words such as "I" anymore, saying them normally. For another, he was becoming conscious to what he had done to Cybertron.

"Primus..." he said at last, "What have I done?"

"Megatron?" asked Starscream, "Are...are you alright?"

"What have I done?"

"Focus, Megatron! You're not thinking clearly!"

"No, Starscream," said Megatron in a voice that didn't sound insane, "For the first time I am thinking clearly. All of this is my fault. IT'S ALL MY FAULT! I killed Cybertron! Why did I do this?! Why did I lose sight of the bigger picture?! Now we're all going to die!"

Optimus managed to break Starscream's hold, and walked towards Megatron.

"Megatron..." he said, softly. Before he could put a hand on Megatron's shoulder, though, he found himself staring down the barrel of the Path Blaster.

"But if I die, I'll die after you, Optimus Prime!"

He was still Megatron.

Optimus acted quickly, as a group of Autobots stormed the bridge to retake it. Ironhide was leading the charge, and with him were Prowl, Jazz, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Mirage, Trailbreaker, Bluestreak, Hound, Wheeljack, Hauler, Cliffjumper, Gears, Huffer, Windcharger, Brawn, Bumper, Zetar, Aragon, Cromar, Downshift, Camshaft, and Overdrive (Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Hornet were still in the infirmary, while Hoist had left to assist Grapple in affecting repairs to the smaller anti-fighter cannons). Another door on the bridge shot open, and Soundwave entered, leading Skywarp, Thundercracker, and the three components of Reflector (Spectro, Spyglass, and Viewfinder). Soundwave didn't even bother deploying any of his minions, content to use an older-model Neutron Assault Rifle (this older model had one barrel compared to the newer models' whopping eight). Megatron and Starscream went over to join them.

The final battle for control of the Ark never materialized, though.

"What is that?!" cried Gears.

The Autobots and Decepticons looked out the window. It was a large, grey sphere.

"That's a celestial body of some sort," answered Wheeljack.

"Could be a dwarf planet," added Prowl.

More small explosions rocked the Ark and Nemesis, as the last of the escape pods were launched. Those still on the ship were trapped.

Optimus looked out the window and saw why the pods had launched.

"We're on a collision course with a planet!" he cried, and he shoved Megatron aside to take the controls. Autobots scrambled to their stations while the Decepticons began beating on other Autobots.

"DECEPTICONS, STAND DOWN!" ordered Megatron, "Now is not the time to fight!"

"You're not my dad, Megatron!" retorted the three Reflector components, but they fell silent when Starscream aimed his Scatter Blaster at them.

The planet came closer and closer. Its size was becoming apparent. From orbit, it looked like it had rather massive oceans and a bevy of different biomes, from forests and grasslands to deserts and tundra. To Optimus, it was a haven, but to Megatron, it looked like the planet Shockwave had described, but he wasn't sure if it actually WAS that planet.

The two ships were now hitting the atmosphere, which was very thick, thick enough for flames to surround them. The Nemesis tumbled uncontrollably away from the Ark, but that was the least of Megatron's worries. He didn't care about fighting now, just survival. He and Optimus were in this together.

Prime desperately pulled back on the stick, trying to arrest the Ark's steep dive. Eventually, the thrusters responded, and the ship became horizontal.

Looking at the flickering gauges, Optimus noted there wasn't enough Energon to get back to orbit. He had to ditch the ship somewhere. Then he looked over his shoulder and saw Megatron eyeing the ground below with deep intent. It was becoming clear now that he was sizing up the planet, and Optimus could see an abundance of organic life.

He made his decision. He was going to crash the ship into a body of water. But right as he was about to do so, the Energon ran dry. That's all he needed. Not even the thrusters would respond anymore, and there weren't any flaps or rudders he could use to steer using the atmosphere.

"I can't control it!" cried Optimus. He was now trying anything he could to save the ship or squeeze a little more Energon out, but the tank, which had been destroyed by Bruticus, was bone-dry.

Now out of control, the Ark grazed a mountain, doing more damage to the mountain than to itself. Now on one more suicidal course, the Ark headed straight for a volcano.

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!" screamed Optimus, louder than ever.

The Ark made one last whoosh as it flew straight into base of the volcano, crashing with a large explosion. Nearby fauna took notice, and went to investigate, before turning back when several were hit by flying debris.

Few were aboard the ship at the time of the crash. Any Autobot and Decepticon soldiers aboard were killed on impact, while those on the bridge were all thrown forward by the sudden stop. This was enough to trigger stasis lock.

* * *

When the dust settled, the rear engine compartment of the Ark was still exposed, but the rest of the ship had embedded itself in the volcano. One last drop of Energon was jolted by the crashed, and the engines gave one last burst before falling silent. This burst started a rather large wildfire that devastated the surrounding woodland.

The Ark had come to a full and complete stop. Some of the upper decks would collapse over the next few days and several reactors would explode from lack of maintenance, but after that, the ship stood silent.

And, aside from the Beast Wars, it would remain undisturbed for four million years...

* * *

 **A/N: And there we have it. Tell me what you think.**


	2. More Than Meets the Eye, Part 1

**A/N: YES, I'M STILL ALIVE. Writer's block is a bitch.**

 **Anyway, I've come up with new ideas for this old story. I'm still trying to figure out how to go about re-writing _Monster World_ , I haven't had much motivation to do Episode 9 for _Theodore Tugboat: The Real Stories_ , and _Diary of a Wargamer_? I was writing Chapter 5, but did so in 's document uploader, and I eventually fell behind, and it was deleted 90 days after I last edited it. So yeah, now I'll have to restart development on Chapter 5 of that.**

 **Anyhoo, enjoy Episode 1 of _Transformers: The Great War_ : "More Than Meets the Eye, Part 1".**

 **One more thing: when you see "MEANWHILE...", this indicates the faction symbol flip transition from the G1 cartoon.**

* * *

Time, they say, is relative. For the _Ark_ and its inhabitants, this couldn't be truer. For four million stellar cycles (four million years in human terms), the mighty ship stood, almost undisturbed. Nature began to claim the ship, and soon, only the engines were visible.

I say almost because there were two occassions in which it received visitors. Both happened during the brutal 40-year Beast Wars, when the Maximals under Optimus Primal made a dangerous pilgrimmage to the _Ark_ to "borrow" the Matrix of Leadership in order to get the edge they needed over the insane Predacon leader, who had taken the name Megatron for himself. It was eventually returned by Optimus Primal's successor, Mammoth Primal, in the waning days of the Beast Wars.

The Lewis and Clark expedition reported the _Ark_ 's engines when they spotted Mount Saint Helens in 1806, but assumed it was a temple built by an ancient civilization. Settlers were warned not to approach the "temple" for fear of what could be inside; theories ran rampant all over the world, from outlandish death traps to a terrible beast that this supposed civilization would sacrifice virgin women to. In the 1950s, the conspiracy mill started up regarding this construct, the most common theory being it was a crashed alien spaceship.

In 1964, the United States government finally decided to investigate the Mount Saint Helens construct. Known as Operation: Sacrifice, the goal of the operation was to gain access to the interior of whatever this thing was and get a clear answer as to its origins. The initial entry occurred on April 5, 1964, and initial reports revealed exactly what was inside: giant robots. Over the next two weeks, the field team was able to ascertain the origin of the construct: it was indeed a crashed alien ship, much more elaborate in design and construction than the ship that had crashed in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. They also ascertained that the ship's inhabitants were in a low-power mode, and at no risk of being awakened. The team was under very, very strict orders from the White House not to recover anything from the ship.

After Operation: Sacrifice, the United States Army set up a perimeter around the _Ark_ after ufologists descended upon Mount Saint Helens. Wanting to keep the existence of aliens under tight lock-and-key to avoid panic, the entire area was sealed off, and the official explanation was that it was an unusual volcanic rock formation. As they feared, none of these ufologists and tin foil hat-wearing conspiracy theorists believed them, knowing with certainty that it was an alien ship, and that there were aliens aboard. Their arguments in favor of the alien ship theory was the blatant engines, which the government provided several flimsy excuses for.

This situation continued for the rest of the 1960s and all throughout the 1970s, until one fateful day.

* * *

 **May 18, 1980**

For days, earthquakes had been rattling the are around Mount Saint Helens. The US Army had been moving their assets out of the area in preparation for the inevitable eruption. Conspiracy theorists and ufologists booked hotels all around the area, knowing that such a huge eruption would affect what they rightfully knew was an alien ship.

At 8:32:17 AM PDT, it happened. The largest and most distastrous volcanic eruption in the United States, and the largest since the 1915 Lassen Peak eruption, forever changed the area. Not only that, it also set in chain a motion of events that would change the course of human history forever.

The remaining army personnel at the defensive perimeter emerged from shelter several hours after the eruption. The air was thick with ash, but their camp had survived. All personnel had to wear gas masks just to be able to breathe.

"So," asked a soldier, "how much you think this'll cost the tax-payers?"

"Too much" answered another, "We'll be fending off lunatics for months after this."

Aboard the _Ark_ , everything had been silent. But the eruption jolted the mighty ship, sending a few of the smaller Autobots tumbling. Then the shaking stopped.

And a light came on. Then another. And another. In seconds, Teletraan I had begun to wake up from its four million year slumber.

MEANWHILE...

* * *

Four million years. They had been gone four million years. And they had heard NOTHING.

Cybertron was a decrepit shell of its former self. The scars of war could still be seen from orbit. Or they would be if there were still any ships capable of interstellar flight. The only one who could do so was Omega Supreme, but he had chosen to stand vigil over the entrance to the Core of Cybertron, in case Shockwave decided to try anything funny. Fortunately for him, no Decepticon dared approach him.

Cybertron was still unable to produce energon, but the remaining Autobots and Decepticons were making due. They had managed to get a few solar farms back up and running, and even built new ones using the materials available. There was enough energon to support the remaining population. The ones who would accept it, at least. While the Great War had quieted down, with only the odd skirmish between Autobots and Decepticons, there was another war going on. Or rather, a multitude of concurrent wars.

Gang wars.

Following the departure of Optimus Prime and Megatron, most Autobot and Decepticon soldiers who remained on Cybertron rejected the authority of Ultra Magnus and Shockwave, and deserted their armies. They went on to form gangs. Each gang operated differently; some were vigilantes seeking to uphold the law in their own way. Others were scavengers who replaced their worn-out parts with the parts of those they have slain. Some were smugglers, trafficking guns and even Dark Energon, the latter of which saw brutal crackdowns that shut down the trade overnight. The worst, though, were the savages. These gangs would attack everyone in sight, then drain them of energy to fuel themselves.

These gangs had colorful names, such as the Red Unicrons or the Knights of Primus. The most notorious gangs were the vigilante gang known as the Optimus, and the most savage band of them all, the Malignus. The Optimus were an oddity, in that they had discreet support from the Autobots.

Ultra Magnus was watching the monitors in the Iacon Command Center. The war of nerves with Shockwave had taken its toll on him. But he stayed strong, if only for his men.

But he wasn't thinking about that right now. He was waiting. For a sign. A sound. Anything from the _Ark_. The last transmission Iacon had received from the ship came just before the _Nemesis_ attacked. Several Autobot Flyers who had fallen back to Cybertron in the fighting brought news of the attack; Shockwave received the news from the Combaticons.

Ultra Magnus' thoughts then turned to Cybertron's place in the universe. Literally. Cybertron had long been a runaway planet, bouncing from one solar system to another. Only 15 stellar cycles ago had it finally settled into a permanent orbit around a star. Attempts to find local starmaps revealed that this system had absolutely ZERO interstellar infrastructure. Not even a system map, so they had no way of knowing what this system was called, and what planets it held. Iacon's chief scientist, Mainframe, had managed to spot a few stellar bodies: most noticeable was an asteroid belt that seemed to surround the entire system. Then there was a terrestrial planet that was predominantly red, and an orange gas giant with over 60 moons. There was also a faint, blue-and-green body. It was too small to be a gas giant, so Mainframe concluded it was a terrestrial planet with life on it, but with no available ships, they couldn't investigate it.

Ultra Magnus was shaken from his thoughts by a wooshing sound. The door to the command center opened up, and in entered a red, blue, and grey Autobot.

"Ah, Mainframe," said Ultra Magnus, his voice sounding like Jon Bailey impersonating Robert Stack, "anything to report?"

"Indeed, Ultra Magnus," said Mainframe, "We have finally completed repairs on the Teletraan Network. All we need to do now is flip the switch."

"Finally, some good news," Magnus replied, "Now maybe we can make contact with Optimus Prime, if he's still alive."

"I'm sure he's fine, sir. He's survived much, much worse."

"I hope you're right, Mainframe. But I digress. Take me to the server room. We should get the network back up and running immediately."

"As you wish, Ultra Magnus."

"Delta, you have command until I return."

"R-right, Utra Magnus!" Delta Magnus stammered. She was new to the job, having just been promoted to Magnus the solar-cycle before. She looked identical to Ultra Magnus, only she had her reds and blues in different places than her superior.

Down in the server room, Autobots were working feverishly to get the Teletraan network back online. When Ultra Magnus entered, all activity stopped.

"ATTENTION!" shouted a green Autobot. Kup, one of the older Autobots, was in charge of this operation, as well as operations in Iacon as a whole.

"At ease, Kup," replied Magnus, "Mainframe tells me the Teletraan network is ready to be brought back online?"

"Not a moment too soon," said Kup, somewhat exasperated, "It's taken us 50 stellar-cycles thanks to the shortage of materials, but we finally managed to get the servers to a workable state. Mainframe's inspected it, and he says it'll work."

"I'll be the judge of that, Kup," said Ultra Magnus, "Now, where's the switch."

"Right here," said an orange Autobot. He was Kup's assistant, Hot Rod.

Walking up to the switch, Ultra Magnus examined it. It was a simple lever with gears, not unlike those seen in the closing days of the war. Grasping it, Ultra Magnus pulled slowly, until it was flipped all the way.

And just like magic, lights appeared on all of the servers. Then they began to hum.

"WE'RE BACK IN BUSINESS!" cried Hot Rod. And everyone in the room exploded into cheers. The Teletraan Network was back up and running.

"This will begin to make things right..." said Ultra Magnus, "Well done, all of you!"

In the Iacon Command Center, Delta Magnus and the other command staff noticed the computer banks booting up. She rushed over to one immediately, and gasped when she saw the old startup screen she had been so familiar with during her days at the Academy popped up.

The restoration of the network was also noticed in Kaon. Shockwave was busy working on his newest experiment, when the computer in his lab suddenly came to life.

"Odd," he said to himself. Ever since Megatron had left Cybertron, his old vocal chip had worn out, and he had to get a new one. His voice now sounded like someone impersonating David Warner. "That's very odd. The Autobots must have gotten the Teletraan network operational again. I wonder..."

MEANWHILE...

* * *

Back on the _Ark_ , Teletraan I had just finished booting up.

"TELETRAAN NETWORK ONLINE. SCANNING."

Teletraan I scanned its surroundings, and found numerous Cybertronians in stasis lock.

"SCAN COMPLETE. REPAIRS REQUIRED. DEPLOYING SCOUT DRONE."

On that, a small, circular drone with solar panels, a Sky Spy satellite, popped out of Teletraan I and flew to the nearest opening.

"EXPLORE. EXPLORE."

Outside, the soldiers were digging one of their Jeeps out, when they heard a sound.

They looked up to see the Sky Spy flying out of the ship, and into the sky. A few soldiers immediately grabbed their assault rifles.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" shouted their superior, "It's not armed! Probably just a scout drone."

The commander then looked up from his men to the drone.

"What have you delivered unto us, O Lord?"

It was now September 17, 1984. The Sky Spy had scoured the globe searching for new modes to use in repairing the Autobots and Decepticons. By now, the US Army had long abandoned the perimeter around Mount Saint Helens, but nobody dared go anywhere near the mountain anymore.

The Sky Spy came in for a landing in the _Ark_ , and plugged back into Teletraan I.

"REPAIR. REPAIR."

The computer activated its repair beam. By complete chance, Starscream just happened to be in its path. Thus, he was the first to be repaired.

Coming back online, Starscream groggily opened his eyes.

"Ugh..." he said. His voice was now deeper, and he seemed to have a British accent of some sort. "Is it over yet?"

His eyes sprung open when he realized where he was.

"Huh?! Where am I?! Oh, stupid question. I should be asking where ARE we?!"

He saw that Teletraan-1 was online, and that the repair beam was active.

"REPAIR, REPAIR."

"So, there is still time to set things right. Megatron..."

Without a second thought, Starscream pulled Megatron into the repair beam. It didn't take long before Megatron had his new body, and came back online.

"Megatron, my leader," said Starscream, "We live again."

Megatron was dazed and confused. He looked around, seeing they were still on the _Ark_ , then his optics turned to Starscream.

"S-s-starscream? W-where are we?" His voice now sounded like, well, Frank Welker.

"I'm not sure myself," replied Starscream, "The Autobot ship seems to have embedded itself in the side of that mountain pretty well."

Suddenly, Megatron remembered.

"The Autobot ship! The planet Shockwave told me about! Of course!"

"Come," said Starscream, "We should repair the others."

"An excellent idea, Starscream. I don't know what this planet holds, and we'll need all the 'bots we can get."

And so, one-by-one, Megatron and Starscream brought the remaining Decepticons on the bridge to the repair beam. And soon, they were all repaired with their new forms.

Megatron noticed he now seemed to have a weapon attatched to his arm, while still having a functional right hand.

"Seems the days of integrated weaponry is over..." he noted, sadly.

He realized this new weapon looked like his old Fusion Cannon. But he had no time to dwell on that now.

"Decepticons, we're leaving!"

Finding the entrance made by the Operation: Sacrifice personnel, Megatron blasted it with his Fusion Cannon, blowing a massive hole in the wall and making a very wide entrance.

"Primus, this thing packs a punch!" he exclaimed, laughing excitedly. He could tell he was going to love his new Fusion Cannon.

The Decepticons assembled on top of the _Ark_. Starscream was taking roll of who was left. At last, he spoke.

"These are the Decepticons we have on hand: aside from you and me, we also still have Thundercracker, Skywarp, Soundwave, and all three components of Reflector."

"I STILL HAVE QUITE A FEW DEPLOYERS WITH ME," said Soundwave.

"Well, then, let's see them" ordered Megatron.

"AS YOU COMMAND."

Soundwave pressed the button on his left shoulder.

"ALL DEPLOYERS, EJECT. OPERATION: ROLL CALL."

And all of his Deployers came flying out, transforming as they did and landing on the ground. They were all lined-up in formation.

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise" said Megatron.

"I've finished compiling all Deployers on-hand," said Starscream, "They are: Rumble, Frenzy, Laserbeak, Ravage, Buzzsaw, Ratbat, Slugfest, Overkill, Squaktalk, Beastbox, Wingthing, Enemy, Howlback, and Garboil."

"14 Deployers?!" Megatron spluttered, "Soundwave, are you sure you have enough room for all of them?"

"MY TAPE DECK IS A SUBSPACE STORAGE POCKET."

"Tapes...I think I've just found a better name for Mini-Con Deployers. From this day forward, Mini-Con Deployers shall now be named Mini-Cassettes."

"Does have a nice ring," said Rumble.

"Certainly rolls off the tongue easier," agreed Frenzy.

"Come, Decepticons," Megatron said at last, "We have much to do. Starting with scouting the area and finding out where the slag we are."

The three Seekers transformed into their new jet modes. Soundwave recalled all of his cassettes and transformed into his new cassette player mode, which landed in Thundercracker's cockpit. Megatron was about to transform into...whatever it was he now transformed into, when he saw Reflector's components firing on the _Ark_.

"Reflector!" Megatron shouted, annoyed.

"I'm just saying goodbye!" the components replied, defensively.

"Save your energy! The Autobots have taken their, heh, last flight!"

Megatron walked away, but Reflector continued firing, hoping to bury the entrance.

"Thanks for the ride, Prime. Too bad you can't go the rest of the way!"

Satisfied, Reflector's components took to the air.

Unbeknownst to him, one of the rocks he knocked loose was big enough to rattle the _Ark_ , which was enough to shake Optimus Prime right in the path of Teletraan I's repair beam.

"REPAIR. REPAIR."

Teletraan I had Optimus repaired in no time. His new form was that of a cab-over semi, and what's more, he now had a trailer like he had thought of when getting Bumblebee to the repair bay all those years ago.

Unlike Megatron and Starscream, Optimus was immediately alert, and transformed into his robot mode.

"Thanks!" he said to Teletraan I, giving it a thumbs up.

A short while later, after Optimus and walked around the _Ark_ assessing the situation, he went into the repair bay and found that Bumblebee was still on the operating table. Ratchet was slumped against a wall, and Hornet was, rather fittingly, slumped over Bumblebee. Even in stasis, she wouldn't leave his side.

He looked for Hoist, but found he was nowhere to be found. Then he checked on every single Autobot in the repair bay. All of them, except Bumblebee, Hornet, and Ratchet, were dead, several of self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Then he noticed several of these Autobots were actually Decepticons, and noticed a gun next to Ratchet. He deduced that the Decepticons had launched an assault on the repair bay just before the crash.

"Vector Sigma..." he muttered, "Is there nothing the Decepticons will stoop to?"

Pushing that thought aside, Optimus discovered his new trailer had a drone named Roller. He set Roller to work gathering up the surviving Autobots, and putting them in his trailer. When they were safely stowed away, Optimus transformed into his truck mode, hitched up to his trailer, and drove back to the bridge.

With all of the surviving Autobots now assembled on the bridge, Optimus picked up Bumblebee and placed him before the repair beam.

"REPAIR. REPAIR."

In seconds, Bumblebee had received his new body. He was still the same size, but his body, much like Optimus', was a lot more blocky and with less moving parts. Optimus figured it was for fuel efficiency.

The light returned to Bumblebee's eyes, and he slowly sat up.

"W-where am I?" he asked. Then he gasped. "My vocal chip! It's fixed! I can talk again!"

"Teletraan I must have repaired it" said Optimus.

"Optimus? Oh, thank Primus you're not a Decepticon! Where are we?"

"We're aboard the _Ark_ , old friend. You sacrificed yourself to protect me from Megatron's gun. I took you up to the repair bay with one of his Megaplex clones hot on my tail, but I made it. Ratchet and Hornet were just stabilizing you when the Decepticons stormed the repair bay. Then we crashed."

"Woah...how long have we been out?"

"I wish I knew, old friend."

Bumblebee's attention then turned to his still-offline sister.

"Let's get her fixed next," said Optimus. And he and Bumblebee gently placed Hornet under the beam.

"REPAIR. REPAIR."

A few seconds later, Hornet had her new body. As expected, it looked identical to Bumblebee's body, except red.

Hornet's eyes shot open, as if she was still in battle, and she shot up to her feet. "YOU WON'T HAVE HIM, YOU DECEPTICR—wait..."

Hornet noticed she was unarmed. Then she noticed she wasn't even in the repair bay anymore.

"How did I get to the bridge?"

"It's a long story, Hornet."

"Optimus? Wait, what's going on here? Where are we? How long were we out?"

Bumblebee spoke up. "Repairing our comrades. Don't know. Also don't know. And I just noticed the Decepticons absquatulated."

Hornet didn't recognize this new voice, but when she turned to face him, she instantly recognized him.

"...'BEE!"

Hornet was so overwhelemed with joy that she tackled Bumblebee to the ground and pulled him into a vice-like hug. Bumblebee felt like his chassis was about to be crushed, but did his best to return the hug.

"I can't believe it!" she exclaimed, pulling away but still with her arms around him, "You're alive! And you can talk again!"

"All thanks to Teletraan I, I can," replied Bumblebee.

Hornet didn't speak. She just pressed her forehead against Bumblebee's, and closed her eyes. Bumblebee closed his, too. After four million years, the Bee Twins were truly reunited.

Optimus fought hard to tear himself away from the cute scene to get Ratchet repaired.

15 minutes later, Optimus Prime had repaired all of the Autobots and assembled them outside the _Ark_.

The surviving Autobots, aside from himself, Bumblebee, Hornet, and Ratchet, were Ironhide, Jazz, Prowl, Bluestreak, Wheeljack, Mirage, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Trailbreaker, Brawn, Cliffjumper, Windcharger, Huffer, Gears, Bumper, Cromar, Zetar, Aragon, Camshaft, Downshift, and Overdrive.

"I've just checked my chrono-circuits," said Optimus, "We have been in stasis for-"

* * *

"FOUR MILLION STELLAR-CYCLES?!" cried Megatron.

"I can hardly believe it myself," said Starscream, also dumbfounded.

"Well, how do we even know Cybertron is still there?" asked Skywarp.

"It must be!" replied Megatron, a bit panicked. He had no idea if the Dark Energon had completely changed Cybertron, if it hadn't been destroyed.

"So, what's the plan, Megatron?" asked Starscream.

"I...have no plan."

"What?! But...you always have a plan!"

"For the first time in my life...I'm at a loss for words."

"You're not really going to just have us fend for ourselves on this world, of which we have absolutely no knowledge of aside from it being rich in energy, are you?"

"NO! No, of course not. Y-you're right, Starscream. Perhaps right now isn't the time to be planning anything military-related. Right now, we just need to survive on this planet until we can marshall enough strength to do, well, ANYTHING."

The Decepticons were surprised. They had never seen Megatron be so...fallible. Reflector looked on with glee at this development, while Starscream was worried.

MEANWHILE...

* * *

The Autobots had managed to convert the bridge into a new command center. The _Ark_ had officially been renamed Outpost One.

"I've got the repair bay all squared away, Prime" said Ratchet. He now sounded like Don Messick.

"Sensors are up and running" added Ironhide.

"And I've converted one of the storage rooms into a workshop where I can work on anything we may need" said Wheeljack, a bit of pride in his voice.

"Good work, Autobots" said Optimus Prime, "Bumblebee, Hornet, I need to speak with you two."

The twins were just setting down some crates full of weapons that now needed to be reforged to be handheld since their new bodies didn't have integrated weapons for the sake of energy efficiency (that and they also needed to be converted to use lasers since plasma rounds couldn't be realistically mass-produced anymore), and they walked over.

"While Wheeljack is making new weapons for us, I need you two to reconnoiter the area. Find the nearest population center and size it up. The Decepticons could target it, and I want to know if we can realistically defend it."

"You got it, Prime!" they said in unison, saluting.

"Been meaning to try out these new wheels" muttered Bumblebee.

The twins transformed into their new vehicle modes (Volkswagen Beetles), and drove away to find the nearest road.

Just then, Trailbreaker walked up. "I don't think I need to remind you that escape pods were jettisoned during the battle, and that many of them landed here on Earth."

Optimus was confused. "How do you know that, Trailbreaker?"

"I'm picking up several distress signals in the area, all of them Cybertronian. It's the same signal used on the pods from smaller galactic transports."

Optimus was intrigued. "We should find those pods as soon as we can, then."

MEANWHILE...

* * *

The Bee Twins had found a road, and made it all the way out to Interstate 5, heading north. They noticed just how many vehicles were on the road, including several that looked like their new forms. They didn't dare speak to avoid blowing their cover.

Eventually, they made it to the nearest population center: Seattle, Washington. The twins drove all throughout the city, observing the bipedal organics wearing fabric on their bodies. Many of them had also adorned themselves with various jewels, either in their ears and noses, or around their necks, wrists, or on their fingers. They found these excessive and wasteful.

Bumblebee and Hornet returned to base at sunset. Optimus was waiting for them outside.

"Ah, good. You're back. Based on how long you two were gone, there must be a lot to report."

"You want the short version or the long version?" asked Bumblebee.

"Yes" answered Optimus. The twins looked at each other, wondering if he was serious.

"Well," began Bumblebee, "we managed to make it to a rather large population center."

The twins then elaborated on their findings, who the dominant species seemed to be, how big their cities were, what their transportation infrastructre was like, and how primitive their technology was compared to Cybertronian technology. Optimus listened with interest.

"Very interesting," he said once the twins finished, "Seems this planet's more developed than we thought."

"We even managed to translate several of their languages," said Hornet, "One in particular, English, is phonetically identical to Cybertronian. The alphabet they use is also completely identical to the Galactic Standard Alphabet. Pretty sure it's a coincidence."

"This should make things easier for us" said Optimus.

The three then entered the base and began to make themselves at home. The _Ark_ would never fly again, but in its current state, it made the perfect base.

MEANWHILE...

* * *

The Decepticons had found a clearing somewhere in Northern California. Soundwave was scanning the available materials in the area, while Megatron examined some redwood trees.

"These trees look hardy" he said admiringly. "If they could talk, I'd recruit them in an instant."

"SCAN COMPLETE," said Soundwave, "PROCESSING INFORMATION."

Starscream was gathering up any fauna he could find, and bringing them to Megatron. Presently, he walked up with a brown bear.

"What do you make of this one?" said Starscream.

Megatron looked at the bear, and actually felt a bit unnerved. "It looks like a godless killing machine. Dispose of it immediately."

"With pleasure," replied Starscream. And he threw the bear into the air and fired his arm-mounted null rays at it. The bear disintegrated in an instant.

"I think I'm gonna enjoy conquering this planet!" said Starscream with glee.

"You and me both, Starscream!" agreed Megatron. They were finally getting along, now that their logic circuits were in working order again.

"PROCESSING COMPLETE" said Soundwave suddenly.

"Let's have it, Soundwave," ordered Megatron.

"THE MATERIALS WE NEED FOR BASIC SURVIVAL ARE ABUNDENT IN THIS AREA. THE TREES HAVE CARBON THAT CAN BE REFINED INTO CARBONITE. THE ORGANIC FLORA, AS WELL AS THE FAUNA, CAN BE REFINED INTO BIOPLASMA, WHICH WE CAN THEN FURTHER REFINE INTO ENERGON. LARGE SOURCES OF ORE AND NOVA CRYSTALS HAVE ALSO BEEN LOCATED. OTHER ELEMENTS INCLUDE SILVER, GOLD, COPPER, BRONZE, IRON, AND MINERAL OIL."

"Excellent!" said Megatron. "There's more than enough materials in the area to build a base. We should build it underground, lest we be spotted."

As it was nighttime, the Decepticons decided to power down for the night before scouting a location for their new underground base.

But before they did, Starscream approached Megatron.

"Megatron, I, uh, just wanted to...apologize for my actions on Cybertron. I certainly wasn't a model soldier, putting my own interests before the Decepticon cause."

Megatron was genuinely moved, but knew it wasn't all Starscream's fault. "I appreciate it, Starscream. I'm sorry, too, for putting us in this situation. My logic circuits weren't working right when I infected the core with Dark Energon. Lesson learned there."

"I'll admit, my logic circuits weren't working right, either. It was getting thrown against the wall by that Dinobot that set them right. I'll never gun for leadership ever again. If anything, that was the worst experience of my life. I think the Seekers are more my speed."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Starscream. Like you said, it was your logic circuits. That we have in common. At least now we can think rationally."

"So, hatchet buried?"

"Hatchet buried."

And the Decepticon leader and his second-in-command shook hands, now having a new-found respect for each other. And Megatron could tell Starscream was being sincere, since the first thing he did after awakening from stasis was pull him into the repair beam. Starscream's own thoughts were of relief, now that their feud for leadership was settled. Starscream also couldn't help but notice how much more pleasant Megatron was acting, not constantly barking orders and hitting or threatening his men, but rather talking with them and hearing their opinions.

The Decepticons settled down for the night, the moon shining bright. That would be their first conquest after taking over this planet, whatever it was called, Megatron thought, as he powered down, drifting off to sleep.

* * *

 **A/N: And there it is! Episode 1 of _Transformers: The Great War_! Let me know what you think!**


End file.
